PHILIPPI, West Virginia - On Thursday, the quarterfinals of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Championships got going in Philippi, West Virginia on the campus of the top seed and regular-season champion, Alderson Broaddus Battlers.

GAME ONE (Box Score)
In the first game of the conference tournament, the tournament had its first upset as #6 Salem International University took down #3 Central State University. SIU came out firing in the first half, building its lead early and holding a 18 point advantage at half, 55-37.

The Marauders created a majority of its offense at the free throw line. CSU drew 17 fouls in the first half resulting in 24 points. Walter Brock had 24 points in the first half behind 7-11 shooting, including three from beyond the arc and going 7-7 from the line.

In the second half, Salem’s lead dwindled as the Tigers got into deep foul trouble. With over 12 minutes left, two Salem players had already fouled out, including the team’s top two scorers and the game’s leading scorer, Brock, who had 33 points in 23 minutes of action. The troubles didn’t end there for Salem as four other players had four fouls each.

The Tigers were able to survive their third leading scorer, and third starter to foul out as they continue to press and push the tempo. Despite Central the lead down to single digits late, Salem ended the game with 118 points, establishing a new single-game scoring record for a conference competition. Salem and Central State share the record, both scoring 127 points in a non-conference game this season. The final score of 118-111 also gives the G-MAC its first game in conference action in which both teams score 100 or more points.

GAME TWO (Box Score)
In the second game of the afternoon session, #2 Kentucky Wesleyan made a statement, scoring the first two points of the game and never looking back as they took down #7 Trevecca Nazarene, 105-56. The Panthers jumped out to a 12-2 lead and continued to roll, pushing their first half lead out to 55-16 at half. The second half played a little more even, but Kentucky Wesleyan held its advantage.

The Panthers had a balanced scoring attack with seven players in double-figures led by Donovan Johnson’s 19 points. Devin Langford (14), Ken-Jah Bosley (13), Dominique Dawson (11), Lonnie Hayes (11), Patrick Neel (11), and Rico Ferguson (10) all scored in double figures for Kentucky Wesleyan.

Trevecca had a team-high 13 points from Nick Drake, but had  three players foul out as the team committed 29 fouls, compared to 13 for KWC. The Panthers scored 36 points from the free throw line.

With the win, #2 Kentucky Wesleyan will take on #6 Salem International on Friday, March 7 at 5:00 p.m. in semifinal game number one, with the winner advancing to the finals on Saturday, March 8 at 2:00 p.m.

GAME THREE (Box Score)
In the first game of the evening session of the quarterfinals, top seed and host Alderson Broaddus continued the high scoring quarterfinal round, defeating Ohio Valley, 107-70. This is the fourth team of six on Thursday to score at least 100 points. During the regular season, the Battlers won both meeting against OVU by 14 and 19, so Alderson Broaddus was prepared for a tight game.

The Battlers fell behind 3-2 after a deep jumper by OVU’s Jerry Macon Jr., but quickly took control of the game behind a 13-0 run. OVU trimmed the deficit back to five, before ABU once again pushed out and posting its largest lead of 18, which was the halftime lead at 54-36.

In the second half, Alderson Broaddus continue to wear down Ohio Valley, pushing their lead to 26 as they started the half on a 10-0 run. The Battlers never looked back as the lead continue to grow.

All five starters for Alderson Broaddus reached double-figures, led by Ali Bilal’s 18 points. Thylas Perkins (14), Adam Kline (11), Richard Lemon (10), Malcolm Tatum (10) started and scored at least ten in limited minutes. Off the bench, Devin Colston and Imanol Artinano scored 12 and 10 respectively. Kline did his damage in the paint, grabbing a game-high 16 rebounds in just 27 minutes played. The Battlers out-rebounded the Scots 51-25.

Ohio Valley was led by Jerry Macon Jr. and David Sinickas, who scored 11 and 10 in the loss.

Alderson Broaddus will advance to the semifinals, tomorrow at 7:30 p.m., and the Battlers await the winner of this evening’s final quarterfinal game between Cedarville and Davis & Elkins.

GAME FOUR (Box Score)
In the day’s final game, Cedarville and Davis & Elkins closed out the quarterfinal round with a game unlike the three previous on Thursday. For the first time, neither team reach 100 points as Davis & Elkins squeezed out a 71-65 win to advance to the semifinals.
D&E utilized a 39-34 first half performance, and matched Cedarville bucket for bucket in the second half to hold off the Yellow Jackets late charge. Cedarville led by six early, before the Senators took the lead for good 10:30 into the contest. CU tied the game with four minutes to go in the first half, but D&E used a 8-3 run to give them a five point advantage at half.

In the second half, the Senators pushed the lead out to as many as 16 points. But the Yellow Jackets had one rally left in them, closing the score to 69-65 with under a minute to go, but couldn’t convert and D&E sealed the win at the free throw line, 72-65.

Davis & Elkins was led by Devin Miller’s 18, while Kevin Bracy-Davis (14), Brian Dixon (13) and Tivius Guthrie (11) joined Miller in double-figures. Cedarville received 18 points from Brian Grant and 17 points from Lane Vander Hulst.

D&E outshot Cedarville 44.4% to 41.1% and won the rebounding battle 39-33.

The Senators advance to the G-MAC Men’s Basketball Championship semifinal where they will face top seed and host Alderson Broaddus at 7:30 p.m. (eastern).